Blind Boy
by xXdiamondwolf027Xx
Summary: Iggy's POV 3 years later. He's been kidnapped and now they're threatening to kill him! [Rated T for suggested stuff and language]
1. Chapter 1

**Iggy's POV about…3 years later. Might just stay oneshot, that's up to you guys. **

I wake up to a sunny morning. At least, I think it's morning. With my blind eyes, I never really know until someone tells me. That's a real pain in the ass. But it's weird. Back when I had my eyesight, I remember being able to close my eyes and turn toward the sun and see the light through my eyelids, and turning away and seeing dark. That's sort of how it is now. Except I never know if it's really sunlight or a flashlight being shone into my eyes by Gazzy.

Gazzy's the coolest little eleven year old you've ever met. He is my partner in crime. He's sorta like my seeing eye dog. Except he's not a dog. He's a cross between human and avian. In fact, that's how we all are. By "we all", I mean: Max, Fang, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel. All six of us are walking science experiments loose in the world. After escaping the School, we've been living on our own, more or less. We do have a dog, though. And this dog isn't just like any other dog. This one talks. Why can't anything about us be _normal_?

Right now, we're staying with a veterinarian. Her name is Dr. Martinez and she's got a daughter named Ella about Nudge's age, so about 14 or 15. Max met them a few years back when she saved Ella from getting beat up by a few teenagers, but she got shot in the process. Dr. Martinez fixed Max up so she could come back to join us on our rescue mission to save Angel.

Max is a natural superhero, saving everybody. She's our leader. But with that little Voice in her head, it's seemed like she's been going a tad bit crazy lately… sometimes she talks to it out loud. It's creepy. I wonder what Max would do without Fang. They've seemed to be getting a little close lately. My hearing isn't too shabby and the other night, I heard them smacking lips in the other room. It was disgusting.

It doesn't seem like Fang to do that kind of thing, but there you have it. He's been getting soft in his old age… Normally, he's pretty quiet and very good at sneaking into rooms _almost_ without me hearing him. It's weird, though, because lately, he's been coming out of his shell. According to Gazzy, he's even started wearing a little bit of color and not just his usual black.

How would I know color? Well, something else has been weird. I've always been able to see everything clearly when I was dreaming. It was almost like I had my eyesight back. Lately I've been seeing weird things. Not necessarily "weird" but… the night before Max told us that we were going to Dr. Martinez and explained how they met, I dreamt it was going to happen. She said the exact same speech word for word. I guess I turned pale, but they all assumed that it was because I was afraid to live with a doctor. We all were, except Max, of course, because she trusted this doctor.

That's not all. After that first incident, I was ok. Nothing else unusual seemed to come up at all. My dreams were all just dreams again, so of course, I brushed that off as coincidence. But it happened again. I was dreaming about going camping with the flock and Ella over the weekend. Not that we would've gone camping, but it did end up happening. And, just like in my dream, we got attacked by a bear! Of course, with Angel being able to control people, and now things, with her mind, she got rid of the bear easily. She can read minds too. Of everybody I know, this little nine year old scares me the most. Call me a wimp, but it's true.

I know I'm probably just having déjà vu, but it's totally creeping me out. I don't know if I can handle this on top of being blind. I mean, how ironic is it that the blind boy can see the future? I had another one of those realistic dreams last night. Let's just see how this works out today.

o.o

When I get to the bathroom, somebody's already in there. Of course, Dr. Martinez left for work already, and Ella's at school. So naturally, there's going to be not as much politeness around here. Nobody ever taught us proper etiquette about anything. Here's how it went.

Me: "HEY OPEN UP!! I NEED TO SHOWER! YOU CAN'T SMELL LIKE I DO AND I SAY I REEK!"

Person in bathroom: "I'M IN THE SHOWER SO QUIT BANGING!"

Me, a little bit annoyed, thinking: _Aw great…It's Max. At this rate, I'm never going to get the shower._

In the bathroom, there are two voices…not just one. Gee, I wonder who the other one is sarcasm.

Voice 1: "Hey, get outta the way. I need my towel." _giggles_

Me, thinking: _Who _giggles

Voice 2, muffled because of who-knows-what: "Why do you want to leave now?"

Voice 1, struggling against who-knows-what: "Come on, Iggy wants the shower…"

Me, jumping in: "YES IGGY DOES! MAX AND FANG, YOU BOTH BETTER GET THE HELL OUTTA THERE BEFORE I KICK YOUR ASSES OUT!

Voice 1: "Uh-oh…"

Voice 2: "Busted… crap."

Me, not trying to think of what they were going through in there: "Please just get outta there so I don't have to have an awkward conversation with the rest of the flock about why you two were in the shower together."

Of course, it was already too late. Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge all came running toward me. By the sound of their footsteps, they came from the kitchen.

Angel: "Iggy why are you yelling? … oh." (apparently, she just pulled a mind-reading stunt. Max is gonna be pelted with questions later!)

Gazzy: "What? Hey, where's Max? And where's Fang?"

Nudge: "Uhh…I don't think I wanna know…"

Gazzy: "Oh. OOOOhhh…"

Me: "Uhm…this is really _not_ cool, guys…"

I feel them turn with me as we hear the door open.

Dr. Martinez: "HEY! Who made the mess in my kitchen?"

Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge: "Uhhhh…."

Me: "Maybe y'all should go clean it up with her?"

Them: "AW…COME ON!! We wanna be here when they come out."

Me: "GO!" _Thinking__ What are 'they' doing in there anyway…actually: What's taking them so long to get out? Never mind, I don't wanna think about it._ _Speaking again_ "AND YOU TWO! Throw some clothes on and get out so I can shower!!"

_Finally,_ I hear the door open. They come out and whisper, "Don't tell Dr. Martinez about this, please?" I just say, "Whatever," and walk into the bathroom, which smelled pretty normal…considering.

o.o

After my hard-earned shower, I walk into my temporary room to be greeted by a wet mess of fur licking my face. "YUK! Get off me you mutt, I just showered!"

'Yeah, but you're cleaner than Max and Fang, and they just showered too."

"You're gross. TMI, dude." He just barks a dog bark and leaps his way to Angel's room. I need some outdoor time. So I walk out the back door, which is close to a forest, and lay back on the grass. I am momentarily joined by none other than our favorite: Gazzy.

"Dude, I just had an awesome idea…" But he is cut off from saying any more. We are being ambushed by some giant hairy dogs. Let me rephrase that: some giant hairy _flying_ dogs. I knew it was going to be a matter of time before these stupid Erasers attacked us again, so here we are; back to the good ol' days.

Ok, so I'm an impatient little birdy. But seriously, I have been itching to get my hands on these guys. With them, it's always. "Go for the blind one! He makes an awesome punching bag!" Well, not today, bastards! Today it's _my_ turn. I get into full fighting while flying mode and use my super senses (minus eyesight, of course) to pick up which direction they're coming to attack me from.

I've got one on either side and one behind me. They're too busy making sure they fly in a straight line to turn away as I shoot straight up. Hearing their collision, I reach into my pocket and pull out a mini-bomb, which I drop right on top of them. I hear the explosion and their shouts of pain and it brings a wide grin to my face.

Then I hear the Gasman struggling. I immediately fly over to where he is. He shouts, "IGGY! I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!! GET OUTTA THE WAY!" I trust him and shoot back up.

I hear a few thuds as his Erasers hit the ground. Gazzy flies up next to me. "So. Whaddaya think?"

I keep my voice from shaking. "Gazzy…what did you just do?"

"Nothing…" came that mischievous voice. "I just tested out my new power on them…"

"Cool… What is it?"

"Nothing much…Just paralysis hands!"

"Whoa! That's some sweet stuff! So how long they down for?"

"I'm not sure…"

I'm not worried though…well maybe I am, a bit. But there's something else. Gazzy isn't the only one with a new trick up his sleeve. I dreamed about all of this, this whole day. I dreamt it last night. Aw, great…the blind boy can see the future.

**So it's your call guys. Oneshot or not? Hope you liked!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok….so it's been forever since I updated this story…erm…sorry about that…But I hope you enjoy this story because I know it's gonna be better than my other two already.**

RECAP:

_I keep my voice from shaking. "Gazzy…what did you just do?"_

"_Nothing…" came that mischievous voice. "I just tested out my new power on them…"_

"_Cool… What is it?"_

"_Nothing much…Just paralysis hands!"_

"_Whoa! That's some sweet stuff! So how long they down for?"_

"_I'm not sure…"_

_I'm not worried though…well maybe I am, a bit. But there's something else. Gazzy isn't the only one with a new trick up his sleeve. I dreamed about all of this, this whole day. I dreamt it last night. Aw, great…the blind boy can see the future._

o.o

So Gazzy and I both have some esplainin' to do…We both need to tell the flock: "Hey! Guess what? We have new powers!" And naturally, there is going be cries of joy and we're all gonna throw a huge party. But the celebration would have to be put on hold. Max is storming out of the house pretty pissed.

The Erasers I had bombed flew away minutes ago. The ones Gazzy just paralyzed were still out for the count, but with what Gazzy was telling me, it appeared they could still move their eyes around and they looked pretty terrified. That doesn't sound too pretty.

Back to Max. She walked out in a _mood_. I swear, these mood swings she's been having lately make me want to run away and hide. But I won't because then I wouldn't be a successful brother. No, I help bring about these mood swings. And I'm assuming that this is one of the reasons she's out here right now.

"What the (insert swear word of your choice here) happened out here?!" she's shouting. "I leave you two alone for a _second_ and you're already getting into trouble! Do you have any idea…"

Her words are lost on me. I am too busy paying attention to something else. For some reason, it doesn't matter to me what she is saying. I sense somebody coming…_fast._ I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but I think Max came up to me and started yelling in my face because I'm not paying attention. I push her down hard and tell her to shut up.

She is probably glaring daggers at me, but that won't work. I turn and start heading in the direction from where I was sensing these people coming from. "Gazzy," I say, "Come with me real quick. We need to check something out."

I could just imagine him looking back and forth between Max and me, trying to decide whether he should stick with the moody leader or go see what is freaking out his best friend ever (emphasis on _see_). Here's the argument going on between Max and me:

Me: "Max, if you let him come with me, you can yell at me later for as long as you want. And I'll pretend to see you while you glare daggers at me."

Max: "Why should I let him go with you? You two will just get in more trouble!"

Me: "Well if I don't go now, _and_ bring Gazzy with me, we're going to be in even BIGGER trouble. And it won't only be the two of us. It'll be Fang, Angel, Nudge, and even you."

Max: "Well maybe if you would tell me I would let you go!"

Me: "Yeah, well, you won't know until it comes up behind you and kicks you in the butt!"

Gazzy: "…Iggy…"

Me: "What."

Gazzy: "How did you know it was gonna come up behind her and kick her in the butt?"

Me: "What are you talking about?"

But it turns out I don't even need to ask. I can hear it. Max is flying right up to my face and she crashes into me. I'm seeing stars right now. It's weird if I ever see anything. She pushes herself off of me and superspeeds up into the sky. I hear grunts as she starts kicking their butts and I hear Fang say, "Crap," really loud as he goes up to help her.

Angel is outside now too and she seems to be playing mind puppets out loud with some of the things up in the sky. "Hey, you big ugly things. You two are gonna bump into each other really hard now, ok? And you're also gonna fly away and take the rest of your friends with you."

So, while I'm on the ground, the things up in the sky are all flying away. I can't stop shaking. I can feel the blood going away from my face.

o.o

"IGGY! WAKE UP! THEY'RE GONE!" It sounds like Gazzy.

"Ow…would you shut up? I can hear you just fine!" That one's me.

"Yeah, well when you went spastic on us outside, we had to knock you out and bring you in here so Dr. Martinez could take a look at you." That's Fang. I don't think anybody else would be able to knock me out.

"…And?" Me again.

"She says that you're ok, except for the bump that Fang gave you when he knocked you out. You were just in shock is all." Angel.

"What I want to know, though, is what could possibly shock you. I mean, we've battled Erasers before and this was just a new version of them." Good old Max.

"Um…guys… I don't know if I feel ok telling you this right now. Can we talk about it tomorrow?" Me again.

"Whoa…" Angel…what did she just do?

"Angel…" (me) "are you reading my mind?"

"It was an accident! But Iggy, this is some good stuff!"

"Yeah, but isn't it _my_ choice for when to tell them? Please don't make me…"

She is sighing. That means she's giving in. "Fine…but make sure I'm there tomorrow when you _do_ tell them."

Me: "How can you not be there?"

I go back to the room I'm sharing with Gazzy, who's following me. He seems upset.

"Hey, Gasman. What's the matter, friend?"

"Why is it that Angel gets to know before everybody else, including me? I'm your best friend!"

"Yeah…So I think I might as well just tell _you_ now too. That way, I'll have some less yelling at me tomorrow."

"What is it?"

"Well, the thing is…Don't laugh or I'll whip your butt to next Wednesday…I can see the future."

I hear a thud as Gazzy hits the ground in a mock faint.

"Dude, get up." He's not listening. So what else is new? "I'm serious, Gazzy." I hear him get up onto his bed.

"How long have you known that you could do this?"

"I've had a feeling since that night Max told us about living with Dr. Martinez."

"_THAT LONG?"_

"Um…Yeah. I guess I should have told you earlier, but…"

"But WHAT? I thought best friends didn't keep secrets from each other! You should have told me, Ig."

He is storming out the door in one of the worst moods I've seen him in. I hear the door slam as he walks to the back. I hear his wings start flapping as he starts to fly around. I know he's gonna be back though. He'll be back in about an hour. I tuck myself in and go to sleep.

**Ok, so this is probably not the best chapter in the world…But it's the best I could come up with. I hope you guys are liking this so far. Please review!!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok. I'm loving that people are reading this story. Thanks for all the random people out there who reviewed to my story. :D Well, looking back on my first two chapters I realize that there is something VERY important that I forgot. Let me do it now. **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of James Patterson's books, ideas, or characters. As much as I wish I did, I don't. So…yeah. Life just sucks like that. (sigh)… **

RECAP: (the conversation between Gazzy and Iggy. Gazzy starts…)

"_How long have you known that you could do this?"_

"_I've had a feeling since that night Max told us about living with Dr. Martinez."_

"_THAT LONG?"_

"_Um…Yeah. I guess I should have told you earlier, but…"_

"_But WHAT? I thought best friends didn't keep secrets from each other! You should have told me, Ig."_

_He is storming out the door in one of the worst moods I've seen him in. I hear the door slam as he walks to the back. I hear his wings start flapping as he starts to fly around. I know he's gonna be back though. He'll be back in about an hour. I tuck myself in and go to sleep._

o.o

It's another day with a, thankfully, dreamless night. I hear snores and know that Gazzy's in the other bed. It's good to know for real he's safe, even though I already knew he would come back. Knowing what's about to happen and knowing you have to face it is way scarier than not knowing and waiting to see what's gonna happen.

Having to get out of bed every morning is a pain. I love being asleep, even if I'm dreaming about what's going to happen. At least it takes me away from reality and gives my mind a rest. But if it's going to be like this, meaning the dreaming about the future and all, I wonder if I'll ever want to get any sleep ever again.

I open the door to our room and I'm walking out when I walk into something. Reflexively, I punch out, not knowing who or what it is. Whatever it was made a large, "Oomph," and fell to the ground with a thud. Naturally, somebody was going to hear it. It just happened to be Nudge.

A loud scream filled the walls of the house. "OH MY GAWD!!!! IGGY JUST KILLED ELLA!!! Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod…."

Ah, yes, here are the footsteps now. Max has just gotten here and is trying to shut Nudge up. "Nudge, sweetie, Ella's not dead. She's just unconscious. _That_ genius didn't think to ask who it was he was punching."

"Hey!" I say defensively. "Would _you_ ask an Eraser who he was before you punched him? You realize I'm blind, right? I didn't know who I was punching!"

"But we're in the house! Who would break into the house and just stand there waiting for you to punch them?"

"What if it was an Eraser? Would you be yelling at me then?"

"No, but as it is, ELLA IS NOT AN ERASER!"

I've had enough. I throw my arms up in disgust and walk down the hall and out the door. Safely into the trees, I unfurl my wings and fly.

o.o

Here's how my mind is working.

_Does she really think I'm that stupid? _

_What is her problem?_

_She needs to quit getting so freaking mad about accidents._

Why_ does she get so freaking mad about accidents?_

_I don't think she realizes that they probably added extra rebelliousness to me once they made me blind. Stupid-ass white coats..._

…_What's that sound?_

…_It sounds like more wings. _

_Must be Fang, coming to fetch me home on Max's orders. _

_He needs to get a grip on himself. He's doing everything to make Max happy lately…kind of like she's…_

…_no-o…it can't be true…_

…_Max?…no way…_

_Whoever's behind me is getting close._

"FANG!" I yell over my shoulder, "FANG! DON'T BOTHER TRYING TO BRING ME BACK! I'LL COME BACK WHEN I'M GOOD AND READY!"

I hear laughter. Not just from behind me, but from the sides too. It's like I'm surrounded. I know it's not Fang. They're laughing like it's painful to laugh. I would be in pain too if I was an overgrown puppy with wings that were probably painfully sown onto my back.

"Hey, freak! Wanna play catch?"

_What the hell?_

"Oh, right! You're blind! You can't see where the ball is coming from!" More laughter. It wasn't even funny. Their sense of humor really needs a lot of work.

While I'm hovering, wondering how best to kick their giant hairy butts, I hear a _whoosh_ from above me and a net catches me. I'm struggling as hard as I can. Suddenly, I realize what I have with me. As somebody above me pulls the net up to a chopper I can hear in the distance, I continue to "struggle" while reaching into my back pocket for a lighter.

Got it. Now I've got to light it without anybody realizing what I'm doing. Otherwise, I'm out. I didn't even stock up on bombs before I left…How stupid of me… I got it. I feel the heat from the little flame. Now I rub it against the ropes of the net.

"Hey, bird freak! Whatcha got there? You need a little light?"

Damnit…they see me. I hope it isn't too early!

"Hey, birdie! The doctors are gonna be mad if you burn yourself!" He kicks the lighter from my hand. It falls down out of the sky. I can imagine the flame going out as it falls quickly into the trees. My hand hurts.

I am not going to give them the satisfaction of crying out in pain, or saying anything to protest. I am not going to play into their hands. That would be stupid. We're at the chopper. I hear it loud and clear. They dump me in. I hear a couple familiar voices. Both are unwelcome.

"Can I _please_ just kill this one now?"

"Not now Ari. We need to make sure we can fix him first. If we can't, then we'll tell Maximum we have him. She'll come try to rescue him. We'll kill him before she can, though. That will be one less distraction from her mission to save the world."

"Maximum this, Maximum that. Why can't you ever pay attention to _your own son_, Jeb?"

"Maybe because my son is no longer the boy I once knew. He died and then you came along. Do you think I like that you chose the life of an Eraser?" Wow. Harsh. Especially from Jeb, who was always a people pleaser…at least around Max. "Besides, you and I both know that Max is my daughter."

I roll my eyes. It's good to still have eyes to do that with. It's getting dark. The chopper seems to be losing altitude. I guess we're landing.

Jeb leans in close to me. I feel him breathing right next to me. "Welcome home, Iggy." I snort. Does he think home is back at the School for me? I sure as hell don't. He starts babbling and says, "You're really clever, aren't you. But I suppose you would be. I mean, you've been leading a harder life than the rest of the flock, save Max. You had to deal with being blind. I'm very proud of you and how well you've handled it." Here it comes… "But you don't have to deal with it any more. We have found a way that we're sure can fix your eyes. Just stay with us long enough to fix them, at least."

Ha. Little did he know… I actually am good at having backup plans. When my lighter was taken away from me, I remembered the Swiss Army knife I kept with me. I pull it out and right now, I am quietly hacking away at the ropes of the net. Nobody suspects a thing.

"Please Iggy, don't think of trying to cut these ropes away with that little knife of yours." Damn… "I'm seriously trying to help. Please… believe me."

Does he really think that I'm gonna trust him after he betrayed us? He better not think so. He's gotta be smarter than that. A few seconds pass and I realize he is. He whips out a needle and sticks it in my neck, injecting something that's gonna knock me out. As I slip away from consciousness, I hear him saying quietly, "I'm sorry…"

o.o

**This chapter seems short to me, but hey. It had a lot of content to handle. I'm gonna make a deal with you guys. Gimme at least five reviews and then I'll update. I swear it. See y'all five reviews later:D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys… I see some of you would like the Nudge & Iggy stuff, but others would hate it. SO YES! I FOUND A WAY TO PLEASE BOTH CROWDS!! Although, one might be disappointed with the style I make it in, but… I hope y'all will forgive me. Now READ!! … OH! By the way: This is a longer recap than I thought it would be. I'll try to make this one long. OK. _Now _read.**

o.o

Recap: (while Iggy has been taken hostage on the chopper.)

_Jeb leans in close to me. I feel him breathing right next to me. "Welcome home, Iggy." I snort. Does he think home is back at the School for me? I sure as hell don't. He starts babbling and says, "You're really clever, aren't you. But I suppose you would be. I mean, you've been leading a harder life than the rest of the flock, save Max. You had to deal with being blind. I'm very proud of you and how well you've handled it." Here it comes… "But you don't have to deal with it any more. We have found a way that we're sure can fix your eyes. Just stay with us long enough to fix them, at least."_

_Ha. Little did he know… I actually am good at having backup plans. When my lighter was taken away from me, I remembered the Swiss Army knife I kept with me. I pull it out and right now, I am quietly hacking away at the ropes of the net. Nobody suspects a thing._

"_Please Iggy, don't think of trying to cut these ropes away with that little knife of yours." Damn… "I'm seriously trying to help. Please… believe me."_

_Does he really think that I'm gonna trust him after he betrayed us? He better not think so. He's gotta be smarter than that. A few seconds pass and I realize he is. He whips out a needle and sticks it in my neck, injecting something that's gonna knock me out. As I slip away from consciousness, I hear him saying quietly, "I'm sorry…"_

o.o

Ow…my head hurts…ugh…they changed my clothes. Even my BOXERS!! Hmph…talk about a lack of privacy. Now I'm in some ugly School hospital gown. It's really light. And the back is open. Oh, God…I hope they won't make me walk down the hall. That would be so very embarrassing. I'd probably kick their butts even more than I plan to already.

I'm in a _cage_. I _hate_ cages. Why couldn't they just give me a room? Given, it would have been locked and bolted and guarded by at least five Erasers, but seriously, a _cage_? What is it with them and cages? Everything _has_ to be in a cage. They're going to have a very stiff bird boy on their hands when they decide to take me out of here. I don't know if I'll be able to stretch out on the operation table when they pull me out to "fix" my eyes.

Ugh…_a cage_…

o.o

Wow…it's been three days. I can't believe the flock hasn't made it here yet. They probably got detoured by Erasers…and stuff. I hope they're actually coming. The whitecoats are saying they're gonna perform surgery today. I never thought there was a God, but if there's one now, I hope he's listening.

Dear Lord, please don't let me die today…

The whitecoats are here. They have a needle. I'm out cold.

o.o

**(Memory Land…so no, Ig's not going crazy here.)**

_The flock is flying. I accidentally drop a bomb over a lake. The explosion rocked. I could feel the spray of water from four hundred feet in the air. Max is sooo pissed…_

_Nudge and I are trying to go out on a date. The Taco Bell we're at isn't really that awesome. Maybe we should go flying instead. A kid shoots a paint gun at us… We think it's not really gonna work out…_

_Gazzy and I are making our first bombs back at our old house, where we used to live with Jeb… That one was a disaster…_

_Fang is telling me about how he and Max want to get married…_

_Angel is talking to bears now…great…I think one day, one of these dangerous animals isn't going to listen to us and it'll eat us up…Then she'll know why she can't be the leader…_

**(You are now exiting Memory Land. Please unbuckle your safety harnesses and step off the ride.)**

o.o

Oh wow…I have a massive headache now. I always get one after coming back to consciousness. I pop my neck real quick. That feels so much better. The familiar light plays against my eyelids, but it feels brighter now. Almost like somebody has a really bright flashlight and they decided to keep it in my face for a really long time. I open my eyes.

And holy crap…I can see. I'm not in a cage anymore. In fact, I'm flying. Well, technically, I'm not doing the flying…but I'm in the air. Fang has a net and I'm in it. Great…now I feel like a fish. Angel better not try to use her mind control on me…

Max and Fang haven't noticed I'm awake yet. Actually, none of the flock has yet. They all think I'm either knocked out, or asleep, or something to that effect. Max just flew ahead and beckoned to Fang to come with her. I can't believe those youngsters are old enough where they can be left alone for a few seconds without setting a bomb off…wait. _That_ only happens when _I'm_ around. What excitement they have with me in their lives. I don't see how they could live without me… (Major sarcasm alert!) But, seriously, how could they live?

I do their cooking (except when we're at somebody else's house), I bring excitement (mostly having to do with bombs and destruction), and after trying to live without me, we were all miserable. Yes, I know that the heartbreak would have happened if anybody else left, but still. Since I was the only one who tried not being with the flock, I claim the heartbreak all to myself. They can't have it. So there. (I am sticking my tongue out, but you can't see it.)

Anyway, I was eavesdropping on Max and Fang before we took that enjoyable detour. Hmm…It seems Max is worried. Fang too, for that matter. It's weird to see Max worry, but even weirder to see Fang admit to being worried. Max kicks off the conversation. Here's how it goes:

Max: "Fang. Do you think the Whitecoats know?" Her eyes were wide, man. She's totally freaked.

Fang: "Know about what?"

Max: _(punch)_

Fang: "Just joking…geez. God knows we need a little bit of laughter around here. And…I don't know. They know basically everything else, so why wouldn't they know about this? Unless, of course, they honestly butted out of our lives for long enough for this to happen."

Max: "Yeah, right. I don't think they ever counted on this to happen. But if they ever find out, which is very likely, what will they do? I can't let them know this. We have to try to lie low until this is over."

Fang: "But after it happens, nothing will ever be the same, Max."

Max: "I know. But as bad as it seems for us right now, I'm actually really excited…I can't wait."

Fang: "Neither can I."

Max: "Fang…can you believe it?" Her eyes glowed with pure joy. I knew it was coming… "Fang…we're gonna be _parents_."

Fang: "Yeah, I know." He looked straight ahead, wistfully. "We might even be having twins… I hope Dr. Martinez is right about that."

Max: "Yeah…This is gonna be great."

Fang: "So…when're we gonna get married?"

Max: "As soon as Iggy wakes up. We're gonna go to Vegas... or maybe we'll do something else. Vegas is overrated. Let's go to…Atlantic City."

Fang: Smiling.

Max: Smiling, too.

**(Yeah…I knew y'all saw it coming…Now stop reading these random author's notes and keep reading the story!!)**

Wait. Did she just say I'm not awake? She's looking right at me and she can't tell I'm _awake_? Crap, crap, and more crap. That means I'm dreaming. Which means…We're going to Atlantic City! But is this going to happen tomorrow? Or just sometime soon? I hope it's really soon.

I'm going to be an uncle!

**(We are now exiting Iggy's Dreamland/Futureland)**

o.o

Now I'm waking up for real. How can I tell? Well, I have that giant headache and the drowsiness of waking up when I don't really want to wake up. At least I'm not in a cage. I'm in a cot. And the cot is in a room. Hopefully, it's not a room with bars, otherwise that would mean that they just upgraded my cage and made it bigger. But a cage is a cage. I get up and walk to a wall. I touch it. It's a wall. There aren't any bars. I'm in a room. And it's not a cage.

I hear a door swing open and shut. Somebody walks in. Well, they more _stomp_ in than really walk. Whoever it is grunts like a big gorilla and has giant nails that really hurt. I might be exaggerating about the hurting, but they really did have giant nails. Ugh... Eraser claws. I've gotten gauged by them before, and it was _not_ a pretty sight…at least, it felt ugly. I didn't really see it. But the others were pretty disgusted. It was hilarious sitting there listening to them go, "Eww…"

The Eraser who's walking me around the building is grumbling something about "not a freak-baby-sitter…" and "just wanna get the job over with…" Naturally, that's gonna spark my curiosity. Job? I wonder what it is… It wouldn't have anything to do with little old _me_, would it? Naw… Aw, shucks…It's good to know they care about me _so much_! Ha. Sarcasm is the greatest.

I just remembered. Am I still wearing the open-back hospital gown? Without my boxers?!?! Phew… I'm in jeans now. They're actually really comfortable. But…they forgot to give me a shirt. No wonder it's so cold…

We finally reach our destination and the grumpy Eraser swings open the door with quite an attitude. Looks like _somebody_ woke up on the wrong side of the test tube this morning. He really needed to go to some anger management classes. He shoves me onto a hospital bed and snarls, "Don't move a muscle, freak. Or I'll be glad to have my job. And you'll be sorry." Geez…he sounded like something out of a really bad action movie.

He shuts the door and I stick out my tongue at him. Childish, I know, but I never really grew up. I hope I don't really have to. And if I do, I hope it isn't for too long. It seems like I'm going to have to be a little grown up while I'm still with the Whitecoats and all, but I'm gonna keep it to the absolute minimum.

Somebody walks in the room. There's a lack of door-slamming so I'm assuming it's not the Eraser, or the Eraser took a thirty-second anger management class that doubled in how to close a door calmly. Somehow, I get the feeling that the first choice is the right one…

And the cookie goes to: IGGY! Yeah…It's not an Eraser. It's our old buddy, Jeb. Of course it is. Who else could I have been expecting? Maybe I was hoping it would be my fairy godmother, come to rescue me from this hellhole. I sigh. What a waste of dreams. My heart's wish will never come true…Cinderella was right about one thing, though. Dreams do come true. At least, mine do.

I twist my neck both ways so the bones in there make little popping noises. Jeb says sharply, "You shouldn't do that. It's bad for your neck."

I snort. "What's it gonna do? Kill me? I'm not afraid. I'm not gonna die today."

Jeb is silent. I hear a scratching sound as he writes something down. I can just imagine him in a white coat with a clipboard examining the "patient" and scribbling down notes. I always wondered if they were scribbling down notes or just doodling on their pads. I mean, really. All you need to do is take one look at me, see the wings, and then be like, "ok…this is _not_ a normal patient."

Anyway, Jeb decides to ignore my odd comment and continues scratching something down. That scratching sound is so annoying. I want to take that pencil out of his hands and snap it in two pieces. I have a gigantic headache right now and that irritating sound is not helping.

I refuse to let Jeb see me clutch at my head in a desperate attempt to tune out the scratching. So I sit there and stare straight at where (I think) he is. Apparently people are freaked out when I do that. I stare straight at them and they realize I'm blind and it's all great fun!

Jeb comes at me and places something cold on my chest. It's a stethoscope. I yawn. We're back to the good ol' days…Well, those days weren't really _good_, so I guess it's just the "ol' days".

He finishes up the check-up. Then he pulls up a chair and sits directly across from me. Yes. I can tell the position of where people are… It's called _instinct_. And I gotta say, mine has gotten better. I used to be a pampered, caged princess, what with these scientists jabbing and poking at me. Now I am a completely different person. I have had to learn how to get my own food…or at least ingredients so I could cook. I'm thinking about opening my own restaurant.

Jeb kicks off the conversation. "So, how's Max and the rest of the flock?"

I "look" at my nails and pretend to be busy polishing them. Of course, they're perfectly clean. I happen to be a neat freak when it comes to my hands. I don't mind getting them dirty as long as they're clean afterward. Weird, I know. Gazzy wonders what I'm high on.

"Iggy. I need to make sure they're ok. I haven't been getting anything from Ma— " He cuts himself off abruptly, as if he is about to let me in on some super secret.

"You haven't been getting anything from Max? Or is it Max's _chip_?" Silence…Hmm…Maybe he doesn't know we know…Let's make sure… "Oh yeah. We found out about it a while ago. Is that how you've been tracking us? How about how the Voice got into her head? She's been driving me nuts talking to herself, you know that?"

"So Max has a Voice too…Just like Ari…Just like…Maybe it's hereditary…"

I wonder if Jeb's really in his right mind. I mean, how could it be in Ari too? The Voice? In Ari's head? It must have a load of space to run around in up there.

o.o

**Hmm…yes…inconvenient ending, huh? Well, I couldn't think of where else to go with this so I'm just going to end it here. Maybe I'll get some inspiration for the next chapter somewhere…Maybe a few cookies will help me along…I've got other stuff to do right now otherwise I would start the next chapter… But you'll have to content yourselves with this one for now. Now GO REVIEW!!!**


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